An important distinction is to be made between living in the moment and living for the moment. One living for the moment seeks one thing, that which gratifies the needs and desires of the self, the aesthetic. It is the way of the opportunist, each moment seeking one’s own.

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

The moment is all we have, we are not guaranteed another, so we must make the most of it.

In living for the moment one moves through life from pleasure to pleasure with increasing despair in the gaps. The absence of pleasure is despair and meaninglessness, it is suffering, it is pain, it is everything that one must escape. Desperate for escape, one living for the moment settles for easy, short term pleasures at a cost to the good of the self. Dependent on and needy of pleasure, this one takes pornography at the expense of intimacy, control at the expense of trust and hope, certainty at the expense of truth, distraction at the expense of discipline. Here there is no growth, one who lives for the moment seeks to escape what is for the pleasures that might be.

In contrast, living in the moment involves fully accepting what is (be it the greatest joy or the deepest pain) and working within it for life, beauty, love, and redemption. Living in the moment requires discipline and intentionality. It is a full commitment to the good in the face of the many distractions, escapes, and easy ways that constantly present themselves to an individual. It is a commitment to the good for its own sake, for one who lives in the moment does not know whether he/she will have tomorrow to enjoy its rewards. It gives no care for tomorrow, for its worries and endless considerations… not because it avoids responsibility, but because it knows that its only real responsibility is what it has been given this day to work with.

*Accompanying music for this post is Awake My Soul, by Mumford and Sons. Check it out at the top right side of the screen.

Mumford and Sons, Awake My Soul, Sigh No More